Musical crib toys have enjoyed substantial popularity for many years and as a result have been provided in a virtually endless variety of shapes, sizes, configurations and styles. The basic object of such musical crib toys is to provide amusement and entertainment to soothe and occupy an infant resting within the crib. To meet the needs of consumers for such crib toys, practitioners in the art have provided toys ranging from simple music boxes to highly intricate mobiles having revolving elements or the like. Still others have been provided with interactive features such as push buttons and activity elements intended to be manipulated by the infant within the crib. The great majority of such crib toys attach to the crib sidewall and extend into the space above the resting infant or are positioned upon the crib sidewall at a sufficiently low position to be reachable by the infant. Another interesting variant of crib toys are those having mechanisms which provide for movement along the upper rail or top edges of the crib sidewalls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,339 issued to Cook sets forth a MUSICAL RAIL ROCKER providing a crib toy having a rocking pony shape outer shell with a downwardly facing U-shaped aperture therein. The aperture includes a clamp adapted to fit over different sized cribs to secure the pony thereto. The shell contains a mechanism having an output shaft which drives a gear train for rocking the pony through a slidable connecting device while music is played by an internal sound mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,482 issued to Marcus sets forth a DECORATIVE NURSERY ACCESSORY having a housing securable to a convenient surface and supporting a rotatable mobile above an infant. The housing supports a motor drive and music box coupled to a flexible shaft. The remaining end of the flexible shaft is coupled through the mobile support to a plurality of rotatable elements supported by the mobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,321 issued to Rieling sets forth a CRIB TOY is capable of back and forth motion along a crib rail by operation of a reversing mechanism. An internal wind-up drive propulsion system is supported within the toy and rotatably coupled to the rail surface to drive the toy. The reversing mechanism includes a support plate spring-biased between first and second positions which is reciprocally moved between the first and second positions for respective engagement of first and second gears within the drive means using a cam surface and cam follower.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,654 issued to Nottingham sets forth a MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR A CRIB TOY having a mounting bracket which is adjustable for accommodating various constructions and sizes of crib rails as well as convertible to a self-supporting stand or mounting a toy thereto. The toy is removably secured to the mounting bracket such that it may be removed for independent play.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,399 issued to Abe sets forth a SEQUENTIAL ACTION TOY HAVING A PLURALITY OF CAMS in which a housing supports a motor drive having an output drive disk and further supports a center pivoted lever having extending portions to which toy figures are secured. Sequential cams provide relative movement of the lever and toy figure in response to motor drive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,855 issued to Morrison sets forth a pop-up crib toy having a housing securable to a crib surface and a movable figure supported on the upper portion thereof. An internal motor drive operates a vertically displaceable rod coupled to the pop-up figure for raising and lowering the pop-up figure from the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,220 issued to Williams, et al. sets forth a PUPPET MOBILE having a clamp securable to a crib surface or the like and supporting an elongated upwardly extending curved member. The curved member in turn supports a downwardly hanging puppet formed to replicate a plurality of plush animals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,279 issued to Smith sets forth an INFANT TOY formed of a quilted fabric material stuffed with a cotton batting to form a pillow-like body. The pillow-like body is preferably formed in an ornamental shape and supports a plurality of hook and loop fastening strips which in turn support a corresponding plurality of fabric patches having cooperating fasteners formed in a variety of ornamental shapes, textures and sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,286 issued to Davison sets forth a MULTIPLE ACTIVATION CRIB TOY having a housing together with a clamp for securing the housing to a convenient portion of an infant crib. An internal circuit within the crib toy produces a musical output and provides predetermined motions of a plurality of activated cartoon-like figures. A microphone supported by the housing responds to the sounds produced by the noise producing apparatus to trigger musical output.
PCT publication WO90/08582 sets forth a MOBILE HAVING DIVERSE MOVEMENTS in which a plurality of freely moving figures are each supported by a rotating element and connected to a lateral rod. The lateral rods are coupled to a rotating element within the mobile toy to provide movement thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,376 issued to Copley, et al. sets forth a TOY ANIMAL WITH ILLUMINATED BELLY in which an animal-shaped body includes an illuminatable belly portion. A cavity in the belly portion houses accessories, electrical circuitry and a power source required to provide illumination of a domed-shaped member covering the belly cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,385 issued to Cox sets forth a POSABLE FIGURE having a head torso and limbs covered by a fabric. Magnets mounted under the fabric within the figure's limbs are joinable with opposing magnets mounted under the fabric within the figure's head to pose the figure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,160 issued to Klawitter sets forth a LIGHT DISPLAY APPARATUS including a shaft and a support platform mounted for rotation about the shaft. A light bracket mounted on the support revolves about an axis offset from the shaft and lamps mounted on the light bracket at a position offset from the bracket access. The support is revolved by either mechanical gearing or directly by the motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,369 issued to Spector sets forth a TRANSFORMABLE PILLOW which in its normal mode serves as a comfortable bedrest and in its transformed mode functions as a plaything. The pillow is formed of a soft compressible inner bag and a removable outer case which covers the bag. Means such as drawstrings or elastic bands are provided to encircle the outer case and constrict the pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,160 issued to Autore sets forth a STUFFED TOY ANIMAL HAVING SPIRAL-SHAPED FORM-RETAINING APPENDAGES AND METHOD OF FABRICATION THEREFOR formed of a compliance material and stuffed with a film material.
U.S. Patent Des. 275,693 issued to Gregory sets forth a DOLL having a generally circular torso and head coupled to elongated extending arms each of which supports a hook and loop fabric attachment for securing the arm hands together.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,075 issued to Martin-Rossman sets forth a HANDLEBAR MOUNTED BIKE ASSEMBLY including a spring securable to the upper portion of a handlebar and a figurine member releasibly engageable with the handlebar spring to provide resilient support of the figure upon the handlebar.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have provided improvements in crib toys and other related toy areas, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore improved flexible and adaptive crib toys for use by infants and young children.